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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27602378">Settling In</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/old_and_new_friends/pseuds/old_and_new_friends'>old_and_new_friends</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: Legend of Korra</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Brothers, Gen, Pets, Sibling Arguments</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:33:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,673</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27602378</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/old_and_new_friends/pseuds/old_and_new_friends</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Mako's struggling to settle into their new life. As things go missing around the apartment, Mako blames Bolin and Bolin blames Mako. Little do the brothers know, someone else is making the apartment their home as well, and may just teach them a thing about settling.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bolin &amp; Mako (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>32</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Settling In</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is based on a video of a ferret building a nest and taking things with increasing hilarity into said nest.</p><p>WARNING: Mako threatens Pabu in his head once and then jokingly out loud, but he never actually hurts Pabu nor does he intend to.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mako was digging through his closet trying to find his winter coat. The cold of winter was starting to settle over the city and Mako new he would need it soon.</p><p>It was odd to him, that he had so easily lost it. When he and Bolin lived on the streets, he had always been aware of its location, that coat being the key to his and his brother’s survival when they were homeless. Living in the apartment above the arena had made Mako a bit complacent.</p><p>Still, Mako wasn’t fully settled, well aware that the apartment was a generosity that could easily be stripped away. As of right now the pro-bending arena owner was willing to humor them and Toza, so long as Mako and Bolin helped clean up the place and proved to be valuable pro-bending players.</p><p>So far, they had only done one of those things, no team choosing him and Bolin to join them yet. Toza hinted at possibly making a new team but Mako didn’t have high hopes of that.</p><p>Mako grunted when his coat remained missing. He had looked for it where he recalled hanging it, but when it wasn’t there, had a torn apart his closet, twice.</p><p>Mako wasn’t use to having so much storage space and the idea that his coat could be anywhere in the apartment was a slightly scary concept. He liked having all of his stuff where he could easily see it.</p><p>Mako gave up. His coat was clearly not in his closet, which meant it was somewhere else.</p><p>Mako walked out into the main room of their apartment and saw Bolin playing with Pabu.</p><p>“Hey,” Mako said, “have you seen my winter coat?”</p><p>“Nope,” Bolin replied. “Did you look in your closet?”</p><p>Mako sighed. “Yeah,” he said. “Let me know if you see it around, okay?”</p><p>“Sure, sure,” Bolin said. Mako shook his head. Clearly Bolin wasn’t actually listening to him.</p><p>Mako moved to start making lunch. Bolin huffed slightly which was the only warning Mako got before there was a fire ferret leaning against his knee begging for food.</p><p>“Shoo,” Mako said, nudging Pabu away with his foot.</p><p>“Don’t kick him!” Bolin shouted.</p><p>“I didn’t kick him!” Mako shouted back, even as he glared down at the stupid creature.</p><p>Mako opened the draw they had put their new ladle in, Toza having been kind enough to buy them the basics. It was missing.</p><p>“Bolin,” Mako called, “where’s the ladle?”</p><p>“The what?” Bolin asked.</p><p>“The ladle,” Mako repeated, opening the other two drawers in their kitchen. It wasn’t there either.</p><p>“Dude,” Bolin said, “I don’t go in the kitchen. That’s your space.”</p><p>“Well, I didn’t misplace it,” Mako said. “It always goes in the exact same spot.”</p><p>Mako knew his brother found his obsessive need for everything to have a spot funny, but it really did bother Mako when things weren’t where he put them. Out on the streets if things weren’t where you put them, it meant they were gone. Mako didn’t like the panic gripping his stomach at both his winter coat and the ladle going missing.</p><p>Mako frowned as he shut the drawer and made do with pulling their lunch from the pot.</p><p>It was as Mako joined Bolin in the living room to sit for lunch, they didn’t have a dinning area, that Mako noticed their couch blanket was also missing.</p><p>“Alright, Bolin,” Mako said. “This isn’t funny. Where’s our stuff going?”</p><p>“I don’t know!” Bolin replied. “It’s here somewhere. It has to be.”</p><p>“Look, I didn’t take it and there’s only two of us here,” Mako said, staring down his little brother. “Just tell me where you keep hiding stuff. I know you think it’s funny to mess with my need for order, but I need those things.”</p><p>“I didn’t take them!” Bolin replied back, actual anger in his voice now.</p><p>“Then who did?” Mako asked, gesturing to the empty room.</p><p>Bolin looked around, his eyes pausing on Pabu.</p><p>“Maybe Pabu took them!” Bolin accused.</p><p>“The fire ferret stole a ladle?” Mako asked, staring at his brother blankly. “Look Bolin, you wanted a pet. You said you’d take care of it. You can’t just blame things on it. Just tell me where our stuff is. It’s not that big of a deal. I won’t even be mad.”</p><p>“But I don’t have it!” Bolin yelled back.</p><p>Mako sighed, picking up their bowls and carrying them to the sink. “You know what Bolin, one of these days you’re going to need to grow up,” Mako said.</p><p>“Maybe you hid it!” Bolin said. “You hate it here. I know you do and now you’re trying to make it seem like a bad idea to be here by hiding things! One of these days you’re going to have to learn to settle down!”</p><p>Mako flinched as his brother’s bedroom door slammed shut.</p><p>Mako felt his stomach sink. He hadn’t meant to make Bolin mad. He just didn’t think Bolin was telling the truth. Someone had to take something, and Mako knew it wasn’t him.</p><p>He slid down the cabinets to the floor and put his head into his hands.</p><p>He didn’t know how to handle this situation. Not Bolin being mad at him. Not this new, overly large apartment. Not this new life he and his brother were attempting. None of it made sense to Mako even as he tried. Bolin may be wrong about who was taking what but he was right, that Mako couldn’t settle.</p><p>He wondered if he might be stuck drifting for the rest of his life.</p><p>He jolted as a wet nose poked against his face.</p><p>“Go away Pabu,” Mako said, pushing the fire ferret away from himself. He would never understand why the small creature was so attached to Mako, when he was Bolin’s pet.</p><p>Pabu continued trying to climb on and cuddle Mako, even as Mako continued rebuffing him.</p><p>Apparently, Pabu lost his patience, because the small creature pushed and shoved its way into Mako’s lap. Mako nearly gave up and allowed the fire ferret to settle when Pabu did the worst thing he possibly could.</p><p>Pabu snatched at Mako’s scarf and took off running with it.</p><p>Mako saw red as he chased down the small creature into the bathroom. He thought he might actually kill it if his father’s scarf got damaged.</p><p>He watched as Pabu tried to squeeze himself under the sink cabinet. Mako grabbed him by the tail and pulled. Pabu was pulled out, along with Mako’s scarf and his winter coat.</p><p>“What?” Mako asked. He dropped Pabu and the small creature hissed at him before backing up to the other side of the bathroom. Mako paid him no mind, laying on his stomach and reaching under the sink.</p><p>His hand hit something hard and he grabbed it, pulling a ladle out from under the sink. He also found their missing blanket and three shoes, all from different pairs.<br/>
“Huh, Bolin was right,” Mako said, plopping down on the floor. Pabu chittered at him and tried to pull the blanket back under the bathroom cabinet. “Hey, no, not yours.”</p><p>Pabu hissed at him again as Mako snatched the blanket back. “No,” he said, pointing at Pabu.</p><p>Pabu hated when Mako spoke to him and pointed like that. He tucked his tail and drooped his ears, looking as pitiful as he possibly could.</p><p>“These aren’t yours Pabu,” Mako said, feeling slightly ridiculous lecturing an animal. “You can’t just take them, we need these.”</p><p>Pabu whimpered slightly and Mako sighed, opening his arms for the fire ferret to jump into them. Mako carried Pabu to Bolin’s room, though he hesitated to knock.<br/>
He traded a glance with Pabu before doing so.</p><p>Bolin opened the door, frowning at Mako as he saw him.</p><p>“Hey, can we come in?” Mako asked.</p><p>Bolin was still frowning but he nodded.</p><p>“It was Pabu,” Mako said, frowning. “I’m sorry I called you childish for suggesting it. He was building some kind of nest with it.”</p><p>“Oh,” Bolin said, glancing at the fire ferret. “No, you were right, I did only suggest him because I had no better answer. I didn’t actually think it was him. I’m sorry I accused you too, and for what I said about you.”</p><p>Mako shook his head and sighed. “No, you were right, again,” Mako said. “I’m not having an easy time settling.”</p><p>Bolin bit his lip. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.</p><p>Mako shook his head before nodding.</p><p>“I haven’t really felt stable since mom and dad died,” Mako said. “I know you were just a bit too young to remember but being here has reminded me of what having a home is like. I’m scared I’m going to lose this one too.”</p><p>“I’m sorry, Mako,” Bolin said, pulling him into a back breaking hug. It was all he had to say on the matter. Mako was slightly glad that Bolin hadn’t gone on one of his tangents where he tried to act like he understood what was going on. It would have made Mako feel worse.</p><p>Mako ruffled Bolin’s hair when they pulled back, causing the other to pout slightly.</p><p>“There’s still the issue of our resident thief,” Mako said. “You’re going to need to provide him with stuff he can nest with, so he’ll stop taking our stuff.”</p><p>“Don’t worry,” Bolin said. “I’ll make sure Pabu never steals again. Afterall, if we are turning over a new leaf, he should too.”</p><p>“Good, because if he steals dad’s scarf again, I’m serving Pabu for dinner,” Mako joked.</p><p>“No,” Bolin whined, “don’t even joke like that.”</p><p>“Sorry,” Mako said, not really meaning it. “You know I’d never really hurt him, right?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Bolin said. “You secretly love him.”</p><p>“No,” Mako said, blank faced before walking from his brother’s room.</p><p>Later that night, as he made dinner for them, if he slipped Pabu a piece of dumpling when no one was looking while he cooked, that was his business.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you enjoyed this snapshot of the boys and their funky little fire ferret.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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